Today stage number 5 of the Giro d'Italia ends in Matera, the City of Sassi. It is certainly a city friendly to the pink race, so beautiful that it became the ideal setting for one of the latest James Bond "007" films. Matera is on a hill, however, sprinters have traditionally favorable stage finishes, and naturally Mario Cipollini left his mark. In the 1998 Giro, the Saeco team's Lion King won the seventh stage, Lago Laceno - Matera (235 kilometers). The Lucca sprinter at an average speed of 36.154 obtained his second stage victory in that edition, beating the excellent Fabio Baldato and Spaniard Angel Edo. Alex Zulle wore the pink jersey. Cipollini also won the next day's stage in Lecce and the tenth stage in Macerata. Marco Pantani won the 1998 Giro d'Italia, 1'33" ahead of Pavel Tonkov.

In the 2000 Giro d'Italia, the Scalea - Matera stage of 235 kilometers was the fourth stage, and the Lion King was still with Saeco. At the finish, 1st Cipollini at 37.404 average, 2nd Dmitry Konishev, 3rd Silvio Martinello. After the finish, Martinello complained. "Some Saeco riders pushed Cipollini on the Matera climb," the Paduan told Tuttosport. Silvio was the fast point of Polti; it should be noted that his team, managed by the well-known manager Gianluigi Stanga, did not file a complaint against Cipollini. Moreover, the jury at the finish did not find any major irregularities among the main protagonists that would justify disqualification or other sanctions. The victory was confirmed for Cipollini, who on this occasion reached another milestone: the Matera stage on May 17, 2000, represented his 30th stage victory in Giro history. Mario equaled the legendary Costante Girardengo.

The Saeco sprinter was known as an extravagant and sometimes eccentric character, yet in the press conference he was modest: "I have reached a great like Girardengo in the list of multiple Giro winners, and this makes me happy. But I could be a waiter for Girardengo". Cipollini showed great respect for the champion from Novi Ligure, who triumphed twice in the overall Giro d'Italia classification and was a man of great classics. On the evening of May 17, 2000, the ranking of multiple Giro stage winners was as follows: 1st Alfredo Binda, 41 victories, 2nd Learco Guerra (31), third, tied, the Lion King and Girardengo (30). Stefano Garzelli won the 2000 Giro d'Italia, with Francesco Casagrande 2nd at 1'27". Regarding Cipollini, with his victory in the Arezzo - Montecatini stage of the 2000 Giro, he became the absolute multiple stage winner. Forty-two for Mario, 41 for Alfredo Binda.

The Giro also made a stage in Matera in 2003: 1st Fabio Baldato, 2nd Gabriele Colombo, 3rd Giuliano Figueras. And in 2013 in Matera after the downpour, 1st John Degenkolb, 2nd Angel Vicioso, 3rd Paul Martens.